Old Georgians and TJ Plzeň-Litice landed the top two spots at the men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Budapest to earn promotion for their nations for 2026.
The vital game saw Litice get the best of Valenciennes 4-2, a result which denied the French outfit and confirmed the make-up of the top two.
Played in front of two passionate and loud sets of fans, the French side needed a win and they built a 2-0 lead with Maxime Danghin adding a stroke to an effort from Brieuc Delemazure inside the first six minutes.
The Czechs got on the board in fortuitous fashion from the right corner when Dominik Bystřický’s ball across took a wicked deflection en route to goal.
They were level in Q2, Martin Seemann found the perfect corner finish – all square at half-time. Plzeň had the lead for the first time six minutes into the second half when Lukáš Benda made a key tackle on halfway and stormed forward where the ball was returned to him to finish first time.
And the result was secure when Ondrej Sochor stole the ball at the top of the circle and fired home for 4-2 with four minutes to go. Benda brilliantly saved one off the line in the dying moments.
The result had the knock-on effect of seeing Old Georgians guaranteed a top two spot no matter how their game with AD Lousada concluded.
In the circumstances, they played a cracking, open contest with the first half ending 5-4 in Old Georgians’ favour. Lousada had led 4-2 at one stage but the English club raced away in the second half with brother James and Ed Carson netting a hat trick each on their way to a 9-4 win.
In the relegation Pool C, KS Pomorzanin Torun came back strong after a big KPH Rača opening to grab a 5-4 win that keeps Poland in the second tier for 2026.
The Slovaks created a 3-1 lead in the first four minutes but a pair of strokes from Krystian Makowski saw Torun level by half-time and he would get the ultimate winner in the 37th minute.
The result confirmed Slovakia would move down along with Hungary no matter Soroksári’s final game with SV Arminen went. The Austrians hit full flow and eased to a 15-2 victory
Men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy – final rankings
- Old Georgians (England)
- TJ Plzeň-Litice (Czechia)
- Valenciennes (France)
- AD Lousada (Portugal)
- SV Arminen (Austria)
- KS Pomorzanin Torun (Poland)
- KPH Rača (Slovakia)
- Soroksári HC (Hungary)
